WHATS THEIR STORY?

Alexander
the G reat
Andrew Langley

 WHATS THEIR STORY?

Alexander
the Great

Alexander the Great

Electronic book published by ipicturebooks.com
24 W. 25th St.
New York, NY 10010
For more ebooks, visit us at:
http://www.ipicturebooks.com
All rights reserved.
Text 1997 by Andrew Langley
Illustrations 1997 by Oxford University Press
Originally published by Oxford University Press UK in 1997
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording, or by any information
storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publisher.
e-ISBN 1-58824-273-0
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Langley, Andrew.
Alexander the Great / Andrew Langley : illustrated by Alan Marks.
p. cm. (Whats their story?)
1. Alexander, the Great, 356323 B.C.Juvenile literature.
2. GeneralsGreeceBiographyJuvenile literature. 3. Greece
HistoryMacedonian Expansion, 359323 B.C.Juvenile literature.
4. GreeceKings and rulersBiographyJuvenile literature.
[1. Alexander, the Great, 356323 B.C. 2. Kings, queens, rulers, etc.
3. Generals. 4. GreeceHistoryMacedonian Expansion,
359323 B.C.] I. Marks, Alan, 1957 . II. Title. ill. Series.
DF234.L33 1997
938.07092dc21
[B] 9724192
CIP
AC

 WHATS THEIR STORY?

Alexander
the Great
THE GREATEST RULER OF
THE ANCIENT WORLD

ANDREW LANGLEY
Illustrated by Alan Marks

magine ruling the whole world. Thats what

Alexander the Great set out to do, 2,300 years ago.
He led his army from Greece to India and built the
biggest empire ever seen.
Alexander was born in 356 B.C . in Macedonia, the most
powerful state in Greece. His father, Philip, was the king.
Philip had once been a handsome, dashing general, but
now he was a battle-scarred old soldier, with a lame leg
and only one eye.

Alexanders mother, Olympias, was tough as well.

She had a fierce temper and was quick to have her rivals
and enemies put to death. She was very fond of
poisonous snakes. It was said that she even kept snakes
in her bed!
With parents like these, it is no surprise that Alexander
grew up to be brave and adventurous.

MACEDONIA

ASIA MINOR

ven at the age of 12, Alexander showed how

brave he was. One day he went with his father to
see a fine new horse, a present from a friend.
The horse seemed to be completely wild. It bucked and
kicked and reared, so that no one could ride it. In disgust,
Philip ordered it to be led away.
But Alexander saw that the poor animal was not badtempered. It was simply frightenedof its own shadow!
The boy ran forward and turned the horses head toward
the sun. Now the shadow was out of sight, behind it.

Alexander stroked the horse until it was calm. Then he

swung himself up onto its back and rode around the
stable yard. Philip stared in amazement. Then, bursting
with pride for his son, he gave him the horse to keep. It
was named Bucephalus, and it was to carry Alexander
on all his greatest adventures.

he young Alexander was not just a fine

horseman. He could run, wrestle, fight
with a sword, play music, and sing.
Philip hired a famous scholar named Aristotle
to be the boys teacher. From Aristotle,
Alexander learned about countries and
peoples outside Greece.
Among the other pupils was a boy
named Hephaestion. He quickly
became Alexanders best
friend. Their friendship
was to last for the rest
of their lives.

Alexander had his first taste of war when he was only

16. He was left in charge of Macedonia while his
father was abroad, and he led an army against a
band of rebels and defeated them. But he had to
learn about leadership very fast. In 336 B .C., Philip
was murderedand Alexander became the new king
of Macedonia. He was just 20 years old.

10

he news of Philips death spread quickly.

His enemies in Greece saw their chance to break
free of Macedonian rule. Alexander had to show
that he was as strong and ruthless as his father. The
biggest threat came from the city of Thebes. Its people
rose in revolt against Macedonia and called on
others to join them.

At the head of his army, Alexander raced south and

camped outside the walls of Thebes. He ordered the
rebels to surrender. They refused. Alexander moved
his troops to the city gates. Still, the Thebans
would not give in.
Then came a moment of luck. One of Alexanders
officers forced his way inside the walls and
began fighting for his life. Alexander had to
help him. His soldiers poured through the
gates and smashed the Theban army.
Alexander ordered the whole city to be
pulled down. Only one house was
sparedbecause a famous poet
had once lived there!

11

12

MACEDONIA

ASIA MINOR

Cilician Gates

Siwah

Issus

Tyre

Alexandria EGYPT

lexander was now in

control of the Greek states.
But this was not enough for
him. He wanted to go on and
conquer the vast Persian Empire to
the east. Many years before, the
Persians had invaded Greece. It was
time to take revenge!
So the Macedonian army sailed
to Asia Minor. The excited Alexander
was the first man to leap ashore. He
hurled a spear into the sand, to show
that he claimed the land as his.

The enemy leader was Darius, the Great King of Persia.

He had to be found and defeated. Swiftly, the
Macedonians swept aside a strong Persian army.
But Darius was not there. He had fled to Syria.
Alexander followed him. The quickest way to Syria was
through a narrow mountain gap called the Cilician
Gates, which was only as wide as four men. Alexander
made a surprise attack at night. The Persian guards were
so terrified that they ran away.

13

14

lexander caught up with Darius near the town of

Issus (in modern Turkey). His attack was swift and
deadly. He captured the kings camp, but once
again Darius ran away, leaving his soldiers to be killed
by the invaders.
After this great victory, Alexander marched down the
coast. He captured town after town, until he came to the
port of Tyre. This was built on an island, and so its
people thought they were safe from attack. They mocked
Alexander when he sent offers of peace. They even threw
his messengers over the city walls!

But Alexander was determined to capture Tyre. His men

built a road out over the sea to the island. This took more
than half a year, for the sea was very deep. Giant
catapults hurled stones to smash holes in the walls. Then
wooden towers were pushed along the road. Alexanders
soldiers poured out from them into the city. After a
savage battle, the people of Tyre were forced to surrender.

15

16

lexander moved on southward to Egypt, the

richest land on the Mediterranean coast.
Here, there was no need to fight. The Egyptians
welcomed him as their new pharaoh, or king.
But Alexander had two important things to do.
First, he wanted to make sure of his power by founding a
great new city. He sailed down the Nile River to the coast,
where he ordered the city to be built. He even laid out its
boundaries by taking flour from his soldiers packs and
sprinkling it on the ground. The city was called
Alexandria.

17

The second journey was more mysterious. Alexander rode

far out into the baking desert, to the little town of Siwah.
Here was a shrine, where a great god called Amun could
foretell the future. Alexander asked Amun whether his
conquest of Persia would succeed. The god told him that
he would conquer the whole world!

18

ow it was time to finish the war with Darius.

Alexander led his men deeper into Asia. At last
they reached a plain near the village of
Gaugamela, where they saw yet another Persian army.
It was enormous! There were more than 200,000 Persians.
Some rode on warhorses, some in chariots, and some on
elephants. The rest were foot soldiers. Alexander had
only 47,000 men.

The battle began. At first, the

Persian cavalry drove back the
Macedonians. But then
Alexander saw a gap in the
center of the enemy line, where
Darius stood. Mounted on
Bucephalus, he rode straight at
the king. His horsemen
galloped after him.
In his golden armor, Alexander
was a terrifying sight. Darius,
in panic, turned and fled. Many
of his followers also ran away,
pursued and hacked down by the
Macedonian cavalry. It was a
triumph for Alexander. He had
smashed Dariuss army and was
ready to seize control of the giant
Persian Empire.

19

20

here was no stopping Alexander

now. One by one, the
magnificent cities of the Persian
Empire surrendered to him. The
grandest of all was Persepolis, the
capital city. In its vast royal palace,
Alexander found an amazing store of
treasure. This was soon loaded on to
pack animals and carried away.

21

Then Alexander ordered the palace to be

set on fire. Flames roared through the
beautiful building, destroying everything but
the stone walls. At first, the soldiers thought it was
an accident, and ran to get water to throw on the
flames. But Alexander stopped them. He wanted the
palace to burn. It was a sign that he had defeated the
Persian king.
Meanwhile, far away, Darius lay dead. He had been
stabbed by his own generals. Now Alexander had no
rival. He could call himself Great King of Persia.

22

lexander now ruled a massive empire, stretching

from Greece to Syria and Egypt. Surely this was
big enough for him? But it wasnt. Alexander
dreamed of being king of all Asia. He would go on with
his conquests, until he reached the edge of the world! (In
those days, of course, nobody knew how big Asia was.)

So he set off toward the east. And his

soldiers followed. Alexander was such a
powerful and inspiring leader that they
would have gone with him anywhere.
They marched to Afghanistan and up
into the mountains of the Hindu Kush.
They trudged through ice and snow,
gasping in the thin air. Their food ran
out and they had to eat their horses
and mulesraw. At last they came
down on to the plains of India. It was
here that Alexander married Roxana,
an Indian princess.

23

24

lexander swept
through India,
defeating the local
kings. One tribe retreated to
a stronghold on the mountain
of Pir-Sar. This mighty peak,
with deep ravines on every side,
seemed to be safe from all attack.
But Alexander had other ideas. He
ordered every man to cut a hundred
wooden pointed sticks. With these stakes,
and tons of earth and rock, they began to fill
in one of the ravines. It was more than 656 feet
(200 meters) deep, yet they built a bridge across
in only three days.

25

At dawn, followed by 700 carefully

chosen soldiers, Alexander hauled
himself up the cliff and charged the
terrified Indians. Many were so desperate
that they threw themselves over the cliffs. In
a few minutes, the Macedonians had
captured the mountain.

26

lexander had conquered northern India.

And still he would not give up. His great
warhorse, Bucephalus, died of old age, but
Alexander marched on. In the end, his men stopped him.
They refused to go any farther. They were tired and
scared and homesick.
Alexander was furious, but for the first time he was
beaten. He agreed to turn back to Greece. He sent one
half of his army by ship, led by his admiral Nearchus.
He led the other half along the coast.

route taken by Alexander

route taken by Nearchus

MACEDONIA
ASIA MINOR
Pella

Sardis
Ephesus

Tarsus
Gaugamela

Tyre
Babylon

EGYPT

Memphis

He soon found that he was heading into a nightmare. He

and his soldiers had to cross a desert of soft scorching
sand. There was no food, and little water. Anyone who
fell ill was simply left behind to die.
Alexander suffered with his men. Once, a tiny trickle of
water was found, just enough to fill a helmet. It was
offered to Alexander. But he tipped it onto the sand
because he knew his troops could not share it.

PERSIA

Susa

Persepolis

Pura
INDIA

27

28

lexander was not just a great general and a brave

fighter. He wanted all the people in his huge
empire to live together in peace. So he did not
give all the important jobs to Greeks. Many Persians were
appointed as governors.
When he got back to Persia, he invited 90 of his officers
to a mass wedding. It took place in a huge tent, held up
by pillars 33 feet (10 meters) high,
covered in jewels and hung
with gold curtains.

Here, the officers were married to Persian brides.

They had no choiceAlexanders orders had to be
obeyed! And besides, the emperor himself was marrying
a Persian princess as his second wife. This was his way of
uniting Greece and Persia.

29

30

s Alexander grew more powerful, his dreams

became grander and wilder. He began to believe
that he was a god. He ordered everyone to bow
down before him. But at the same time, he grew sadder
and more bad-tempered. When his dear friend
Hephaestion died, Alexander wept for many days.
After a feast in 323 B.C., Alexander fell ill. His many war
wounds had left him weak, and his doctors knew that he
was dying. His old army friends begged to see him one
last time. As they filed past his bed, Alexander could no
longer speak or move. Soon afterward, he was dead.

31

Alexander was just 32 years old when he died.

He is remembered as a heroic leader and the greatest
general in history. But he also changed the world.
By his conquests, he brought East and West together for
the very first time.